Based on an award-winning and international best-seller, first-person narrative non-fiction book about using dreams and intuitions to survive cancer three times when conventional medical scientific information failed to find it. It's a true story that may change your belief system and possibly shake it to its foundations.
We are never alone in our hours of need and this has never been more evident than in my story.

Friday, December 20, 2013

THIS
CHRISTMAS WILL BE disheartening for many of us. Our unstable economy,
dwindling financial security, home foreclosures, and job losses will not
pause for the holiday season. Add health issues to that equation and
the result is few, if any, gifts beneath the Christmas Tree. However,
there is a bright star in our dark night: community support.We are
bigger than the sum of our problems.

We
belong to the community of mankind. Fellowship and help networks filled
with resources and hope are available to everyone. So are sympathetic
shoulders to cry on. In my work as a phone counselor for the R.A. BLOCH
CANCER FOUNDATION, I recently received a call from a woman I’ll name
Lisa for this blog.

Lisa
was calling from California. It soon became apparent that this woman,
who had just been diagnosed with breast cancer recurrence, needed a
whole lot more than just my shoulder for support.

“I
can’t start my cancer treatments!” the hysterical voice on the phone
cried. “I have to pack all of my belongings because the bank is
foreclosing on my home. I’m being thrown out into the street and I have
nowhere to go!” I heard the phone drop to the floor, followed by loud
weeping. I felt my heart sink. I wanted to cry with her but that
wouldn’t help either of us. So I waited for Lisa to retrieve the phone
and resume her tale. Sometimes listening is the first step in helping.
“I’m the last of my family,” she sobbed and explained that her father
and brother had died of cancer last year. Her mother had died two years
ago.

Her dog was her only companion and she was running out of dog food.

“If I start my cancer treatments, I won’t have enough energy to pack,
and my things are all that I have left of my family. How can you
possibly help me?” she demanded.

Good
question! How could I assist a woman in such a severe crisis living on
the other side of the country? If stress is a killer, why is this poor
woman still alive? Is it any wonder she has cancer, again?

“I don’t want to live anymore!” she moaned. “No one can help me.” I
encouraged her to take a deep breath and reassured her that there are
resources and contacts available to help her. I found the toll-free
numbers for the director of the Cancer Legal Resource Center in Los
Angeles, and the name of an attorney who is a two-time cancer survivor
and co-founder of a legal network for cancer patients.

Before giving Lisa these phone numbers, I contacted the organizations
to be sure they could meet her needs. The voice answering the phone
said, “Have her call us. We can help.” Two days later, I followed up
with a call to Lisa, and discovered that she had contacted the attorney,
and Legal Resource Center.

A community animal organization had donated food for her dog.

She
sounded much better as she prepared for her treatments. We spoke of the
statistically increasing chances of surviving cancer recurrence, due to
new treatments, with better results, and fewer side effects. “Call me
if you need me,” I said. “I’m here for you.”

“Will you pray for me?” she asked in a tiny voice?
“Yes, I will.”

I was reluctant to let Lisa go, but realized I had to respect her
ability, and desire to empower herself with these resources.
Unfortunately, Lisa’s story is not the exception during these trying
times. Her story, however, has a silver lining, with the uplifting
message that community support is crucial during any crisis.

As a community, we are our sister’s keepers. A few days after Lisa’s
call, I heard an interesting conversation while standing in a grocery
store check-out line.

One lady
complained about her financial problems to a second woman who responded
with, “If you want to change the way your problems appear, change the
way you peer at them.” This remark reminded me of the movie Dead Poets
Society, in which Robin Williams played an English Professor who
encouraged his students to stand on top of their desks to gain a
different perspective on life.

Another helpful way to achieve this change is by not looking at our problems alone.

Like the students in the movie, sometimes we need a guide to help us process challenges differently.
Getting back to holiday basics, and viewing them from a different
perspective by remembering the true message of Christmas may also help
reduce this season’s stresses.

Christmas
was a message of hope and joy embodied in the form of a new life: a
homeless infant born in a barn with a manger for a crib. This child did
not receive piles of expensive gifts. He received a roof over his head,
and one small heartfelt gift from each of three wise men.

In
keeping with the true tradition of Christmas, my husband and I have
decided not to exchange Christmas gifts this year. We have all we need
and want for nothing. Instead, we are going to give them to children in
need within our community.

This year we will view Christmas from a different perspective, that of the Wise Men.

The
internet is rich in local resources for women in crisis. With our
extended community of world-wide “womenkind” we have unlimited assets
from which to draw at our fingertips. If you know anyone in crisis,
please share this article to help them during the holiday season and
beyond. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.